An Awkward Reunion
by Mione3
Summary: Face to face with a person from her past DG finds herself unable to lie... or tell the truth.


**Title:**

**_An Awkward Reunion_ **

**Disclaimer:**

_Not mine…_

**General Info:**

_Rated K+ _

_General_

**Author's Note:**

_I wrote this awhile ago for an online competition and decided to post it here now that the competition is over. (This is one of the reasons my Better or Worse story was on hiatus) PLEASE read and review. I love to hear your opinions. As always, thank you for taking time to read my story. I might do a sequel later... who knows.  
_

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The rumble of the engine beneath her body never felt so good.

It had been two years, two _excruciatingly long_ years since the Longcoats showed up at their humble country farm house. And while her parents, the ones who raised her, returned to retrieve the most important of her belongings she did not set foot back on this side until now.

So, why now?

The answer was simple.

_Escape_.

For two years DG was primped and guided, taught and watched, but she handled everything her birth parents threw her direction with more grace than most possessed. But when they tried to force her into a loveless marriage she had enough. The shit hit the fan… as the saying goes. Grabbing the one item from her past that would be of service to her back in Kansas, she hopped the first travel storm she could muster to the other side.

Now she was cruising down the previously well traveled roads of the flat, crop covered ground, more carefree than she felt in a long time.

The sound of a siren almost went unheard over the roar of the engine, but for the first time in her life DG pulled over without forcing the officer into a chase. With a flick of her foot the kickstand went down and the bike leaned heavily to the left.

Looking over her shoulder she came face to face with the barrel of a gun, an extremely wobbly gun at that.

"_Freeze!_" the officer commanded and she recognized the voice right away.

Swinging her leg over the bike she stood straight and still in front of a very shaken Officer Gulch. Slowly she raised her hands up to remove her helmet.

"Did I say you could move?" he ground out, and her hands stopped shoulder high. His voice was even and forceful regardless of how his eyes took on the opposite look.

"Turn around and put your hands on the bike," and he gave a gesture with his head for her to follow his instructions. After releasing a loud sigh she did as directed and even went so far as to spread her legs wide for the inevitable pat-down. Once he determined her clear of any weapons he grabbed her wrist and slapped on a cuff, and that was when she finally spoke up.

"What _the hell_?" she growled, twisting and turning to avoid the other wrist being captured. "I might've been going a bit fast but that's no reason to _arrest _me! Just give me my ticket and I'll be on my way."

"You think you were pulled over for _speeding_?" he asked, seemingly incredulous at her thought process, his left hand clamping down on her hip to keep her pinned against the seat. "You're riding a bike that belongs to a girl who's been missing for years. You're being arrested on suspicion of murder."

"_Murder!_" she screeched. When he finally got a hold of her unbound arm he snapped the other cuff on her once free wrist. "Just take off my _damn helmet_ and this'll all be cleared up _you idiot_."

When her hair sprang forth from its hiding place, its constraints finally removed, Officer Gulch visible balked at her. He took an involuntary step back, mouth agape as his eyes roamed her body from head to toe. As soon as his eyes were locked with her own she saw the shock, the fear, and the sheer joy at seeing her again.

"DG?" he spluttered as he jumped forward, enveloping her in a tight embrace. She felt awkward in his arms… for a quite a few reasons.

First of all, she'd made it her mission to agitate the man, causing trouble at every turn. She refused to follow the rules no matter how often he came to speak to her parents about her rebellious attitude. And they had never so much as shared _a handshake_ let alone _a full blown embrace_. _Weird_ just didn't even begin to describe the feeling.

Second, he'd always treated her like an errant child, someone who needed a good spanking even when she helped him out of tight situations. One DG vividly remembered involved a robbery attempt at the café. When all was said and done he yelled at her in front of all the patrons… and workers… and his fellow officers, for stepping in. Gulch made it quite clear how bad things could have been with her unsolicited help. Never once did he thank her for knocking the criminal unconscious with the drawer to the cash register. _The chauvinistic bastard!_ Thinking she needed protection and couldn't _do_ for herself. Very much like Cain in that respect.

But, most of all, she was _still cuffed for Christ's sake_!

"Umm… Gulch?" she mumbled into the bunched up collar of his uniform slowly invading her mouth.

As he pulled away, and her mouth was once again cotton-free, he held her out at arms length. This time his perusal of her body took a lot longer. It was like he was looking for, and not finding, the reason behind her lengthy absence.

"Where've you been, DG?" he asked, voice and eyes both soft.

She knew she would eventually be asked this question, the town being so small and all. If it was possible she would have sent the travel storm directly to Australia. But, as she learned through her extensive history lessons with Tutor (the ones where she didn't fall asleep from boredom), these specific tornados would only work in the American Midwest. And since her thoughts, _and emotions_, were so drawn to this particular state, this particular town, there would be no point in attempting a different set down location.

Biting her lip for a moment, she tried to recall the answer she came up with before setting out, to no avail. "I can't tell you." And while it was an honest assessment, she knew it would not go over well with the law enforcement officer.

"You _can't tell me_?" Gulch responded, and it was not an actual question, more like a shocked, adjusted copy of her original statement. When DG didn't reply she felt his fingers tighten their grip on her upper arms.

"DG, you've been gone for _two years_! After the tornado we found your farm a complete wreck with damage on the inside that couldn't have been made from the storm. Not to mention _bullet holes_ in the walls and your entire family _gone_." His hold tightened again and she winced at the pain it was inflicting.

"Then a few weeks later, after yet another tornado, your neighbors discover your house was robbed, all your possessions taken." His brown eyes flashed with anger at the hideous crimes he thought to have occurred in his town.

"Now, _here you stand_, speeding down the highway like old times, like you haven't a care in the world. Well, _I'll tell you this_, DG! I'm not releasing you until you tell me _where the HELL you've been_."

A lump began to form in her utterly dry throat. There was nothing for it, she would have to give him some semblance of the truth or her fictitious story would be rewarded with at least one night in lockdown.

"Look, I can't go into all the details but I took off to look for my birth parents. I never knew I was adopted and took the news pretty badly." She bit her lip in a nervous gesture, sure he would sniff out the almost lie in just a few more moments. "Things got worse after I found them and I've been dealing with the aftermath ever since."

DG hoped the watered-down version of events would suffice. "Can you take these cuffs off now?"

Gulch looked at her long and hard and she found herself quaking under his penetrative glare, positive Cain himself had given him lessons. When his eyebrows began to knit together she knew she was a goner.

"I'll undo the cuffs, but don't think for one instant this conversation is done." Reaching out he turned her away from him and quickly unlocked the restraints. A swift swing of her arms around front had her hands rubbing over the abused flesh of her wrists as she continued to look away from Gulch.

His hand wrapped once more around her upper arm and he pulled her toward the squad car. "We have a lot to talk about!" he said as he opened the back door, guiding her inside.

Sitting there in the back of the cruiser she groaned loudly, knowing it would be a long day of well crafted half-truths. DG just prayed she would be able to win him over enough to get back into the open to call up another travel storm and get her ass back to the OZ. She would just have to find another way to get out of an arranged marriage.

Smirking to herself, she was already thinking up a few doozies as the car started off down the road leaving her bike behind.

* * *

AN: Come on... you know you want to let me know what you think!

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